Japan AI Promotion Act (Act on the Promotion of Research, Development and Utilization of AI-Related Technologies)

Summary

Japan's first national AI statute (Act No. 53 of 2025), an innovation-first BASIC law (基本法-style) rather than a risk-regulation regime like the EU AI Act. Promulgated 4 June 2025; most provisions took effect that day, while Chapter III (AI Basic Plan, Art. 18) and Chapter IV (AI Strategy Headquarters, Arts. 19–28) entered force 1 September 2025 by Cabinet Order, within the three-month window set in Supplementary Provision Art. 1. The Act sets a Purpose (Art. 1), a broad functional definition of "AI-related technology" (Art. 2), and five "Basic Philosophy" principles (Art. 3) covering competitiveness/national security, comprehensive promotion across all stages, a transparency-and-proper-implementation duty against misuse, and international cooperation. It allocates non-coercive responsibilities to the State, local governments, R&D institutions, AI-utilizing business operators, and the public (Arts. 4–8), with operators bearing only a "duty to endeavor / cooperate" (努力義務). Chapter II "Basic Measures" directs the State to fund R&D (Art. 11), build and share large-scale compute, electromagnetic-record storage and datasets / intellectual infrastructure (Art. 12), formulate guidelines "in accordance with international norms" (Art. 13), secure and train human resources (Art. 14), promote education/public awareness (Art. 15), gather information and ANALYZE cases where citizens' rights or interests are infringed and then provide guidance/advice (Art. 16), and pursue international cooperation and norm-setting (Art. 17). Chapter IV creates a Cabinet AI Strategy Headquarters chaired by the Prime Minister with all ministers as members, empowered to request materials and cooperation (Art. 25). CRITICALLY, the Act imposes NO penalties, fines, prohibitions, or licensing; enforcement is limited to guidance, advice, information-gathering, and reputational "name-and-shame." Provision excerpts here are paraphrases/translations of the Japanese original (Act No. 53 of 2025); verified against the official e-Gov text, the Cabinet Office (cao.go.jp) page, a Kojima Law Offices full-text reference translation, and the Future of Privacy Forum and White & Case legal analyses.

At a glance

Adopted

2025-06-04

Effective

2025-06-04

Status

in force

Primary source

Act on the Promotion of Research, Development and Utilization of AI-Related Technologies (人工知能関連技術の研究開発及び活用の推進に関する法律), Act No. 53 of 2025 (Reiwa 7), promulgated 4 June 2025; Chapters III–IV in force 1 September 2025.

Source URL

https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/507AC0000000053